Billy Davies led Derby County to the Premier League in 2007 - and he twice guided rivals Nottingham Forest to the Championship play-offs after that as well.

But according to former Blackpool forward Gary Taylor-Fletcher, the ex-Derby boss might have had a hand in Forest missing out on promotion on one of those occasions, in 2010.

That year, and the end of Davies' first full season in charge at the City Ground, the Reds finished third in the Championship but lost to the Tangerines in the play-off semi-finals.

Blackpool triumphed 2-1 in the first leg at Bloomfield Road, before DJ Campbell's second-half hat-trick helped fire them to a 4-3 triumph in the second leg - and they would go on to clinch promotion with a thrilling win over Cardiff City in the final.

Read More

“We obviously got them in the play-offs and we didn’t have to do a team-talk because we remembered that.

“We had them at home in the first leg and beat them 2-1. Again, I don’t know what he was thinking but he was stood in the tunnel, shaking our hands, saying, ‘job done, you’re not scoring at our place, we’re going to turn you over’.

“I remember some of his own players were looking at him, thinking, ‘what are you doing?’. Some of his own players!

“I remember Wes Morgan telling me when I was playing at Leicester, he said that he lost them that game, because he gave us the ammunition to go and absolutely destroy them.

“The second game, all we had over the wall was pictures of Billy Davies and all of the quotes he’d said!

“We went out and absolutely destroyed them.

Derby County manager Billy Davies celebrates with the trophy after the Coca-Cola Championship Play-Off Final against West Bromwich Albion at Wembley Stadium. (Image: Press Association)

“We beat them 4-3 at their place. After the game he was just there and we all waited in the tunnel and he came in, and we were all rubbing our hands saying, ‘job done, Billy! Cheers mate, see you later!’.”

Forest reached the play-offs again the following season, in 2010-11, but lost out to Swansea City.

That was four years after Davies oversaw Derby's memorable play-off triumph, when they defeated West Bromwich Albion in the Wembley showpiece to return to the Premier League in May 2007.

He left the Rams in November 2007, with the club bottom of the top-flight table.